The Other Side of Life
by prongsgirl07
Summary: After 5th year Harry is not sure he can ever be happy again. But spending a summer at the Burrow reminds him that there are other things in life…like friendship and love...and that teenage love can be a rather confusing thing itself.


**A/N:** Hey guys! This story takes place post OotP, the summer after 5th year. Now, I can't even dream about what J.K. Rowling has in store, so I'm just writing about "the other side of life". Not really about Voldemort and all the dark stuff. . more just about Harry going through normal teenage stuff. Some of this story will be based on some of the ideas from the story i wrote last summer: A Bridge Between Two Worlds. Hope you like it and pleeease review!

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**Chapter One:**

Harry Potter sprang up in bed and looked around the dark room wildly. His fast, heavy breathing slowly went back to normal speed as his eyes took in the familiar walls of his bedroom. Harry sighed and slid back under the covers, resting his head against his pillow. He vaguely wondered why he was not used to this by now. Every night since summer holidays had started, his head chose to replay that horrible day. . . the day Sirius died. . .

Harry felt the familiar lump form in his throat, and the hot tears sting his eyes. Never in his life had he felt so empty and lifeless. The days just droned by, each as miserable as the last. Harry's depression was starting to scare him. And the Dursleys would no doubt see it as a hint that he should be sent to a psychiatric ward. Harry slowly dozed back to sleep, wondering if he would ever have a pleasant dream again.

Harry was awakened the next morning by a sharp rapping at his door. He turned his head towards the door wearily, with no incentive to get up.

"Harry!" Aunt Petunia screeched, "Harry, open this door at once! It's eleven o'clock and you're still in bed!" Harry groaned. Aunt Petunia had been coming to knock at his door every fifteen minutes for the past few hours. Harry threw the covers off and slowly got out of bed. He trudged over to the door and removed the wooden chair from under the doorknob. It was a good thing Uncle Vernon was at a business conference, or else he would have broke down the door hours ago.

Harry swung open the door, his tired eyes meeting Aunt Petunia's blazing ones. Her face was writhing with anger as she caught Harry by the ear and dragged him downstairs.

"What is the meaning of this?" she shouted once they had gotten downstairs. Harry wriggled free of her grasp and stormed into the kitchen, rubbing his ear. Dudley was already seated at the table, his beady eyes fixed upon the television.

"Just wait till I tell Vernon!" Aunt Petunia fumed, "You won't act so cheeky then!" Harry stared at his bowl of cereal, oblivious to his aunt's ranting. Aunt Petunia peered at him as if he had gone mad.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she cried irritably.

"No." Harry replied bluntly.

The doorbell rang, and Dudley suddenly stiffened. Aunt Petunia shot Harry one last glare before going to answer the door. Harry glanced at his cousin, who was frantically smoothing his hair and wiping cake crumbs away from his mouth.

"Oh, Dudleyyy! Someone is here to seeee you!" Aunt Petunia sang, stepping back into the kitchen. She was followed by a rather immense girl with the chubbiest cheeks Harry had ever seen. She wore her springy blond curls in two pigtails, and her floral frock clung to her body tightly, threatening to rip apart any second. It was rather like seeing a female version of Dudley.

"H. . .hi. . .hi Martha," Dudley stammered, suddenly standing up and accidentally knocking over his glass of milk. Harry laughed for the first time since summer holidays had started. Aunt Petunia glared at him furiously.

"Hello Duds," Martha said politely, lumbering over to Dudley and giving him what Harry supposed was a hug. She turned to face Harry, her piggy eyes narrowing. Harry slowly backed away, positive that he would be knocked over if she tried to hug him too.

"Is that your crazy cousin?" Martha asked.

"Er, yeah, yeah that's him," Dudley said, his eyes fixed on Martha dazedly. Martha laughed deeply, giving Harry a shock.

"I'm Martha," she scoffed, helping herself to Harry's bowl of cereal. Harry bit back a grin, while Dudley rushed to get Martha something to drink.

"So Martha," Aunt Petunia began pleasantly.

"Is this all there is for breakfast?" Martha interrupted. Aunt Petunia looked quite hurt.

"N. . .no, of course not. Harry, go fry some bacon!" she hissed. Harry nodded, deciding that this was the only way he would be allowed to stay and watch.

"So did you tell your mum about us, Duds?" Martha asked, wiping milk off her double chin.

"Er, not yet," Dudley mumbled. Martha glared at him, and Harry swore he heard Dudley let out a small whimper.

"Tell me what, dearest?" Aunt Petunia asked curiously.

"I'm Dudley's girlfriend!" Martha announced, pulling Dudley toward her with such force that he nearly fell. Harry ducked behind the cabinets and exploded with laughter. Aunt Petunia had a horrified look on her face. She was very protective of her dear Dudley.

"Girlfriend? But Dudley. . ." she began.

"Oh, sod off! He's sixteen, not a bloody baby!" Martha snapped in annoyance. Aunt Petunia stared at her in disbelief. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that she did not know what to say.

"C'mon Martha, let's go upstairs," Dudley mumbled, avoiding his mother's shocked and insulted eyes. Martha stood up, took Dudley by the arm, and dragged him to the staircase. Harry grimaced and went back to the frying bacon. The thought of Dudley and Martha snogging was sickening.

Aunt Petunia sank into a chair, her body trembling. Harry awkwardly set a plate of bacon in front of her and leaned against the kitchen counter dumbly. He watched in alarm as Aunt Petunia began to cry. He slowly started to head towards out of the kitchen, but stopped when he heard Aunt Petunia's voice.

"What a dreadful girl!" Aunt Petunia sobbed. Harry looked at her, praying that his aunt did not expect him to hang around and offer comforting words.

"Er, yeah," he said lamely. He stared at the floor awkwardly, his hand unconsciously ruffling his hair. He suddenly realized that his aunt was staring at him like she had never stared before.

"What?" he asked defensively. Aunt Petunia continued to stare.

"Your father used to do that," she said hoarsely. She quickly bustled out of the kitchen, leaving Harry gaping in astonishment.

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For the rest of the day as well as the next day, Harry tried to get his aunt to talk about his father again. She had done it before, of course, but she had always spoken of him as being a worthless piece of rubbish. But this time she had spoken of him. . . fondly. Harry found the whole thing positively baffling. His immediate reaction had been to write to Sirius about it. . .it was amazing how some things never really sink in.

Today Harry was sprawled out in the garden, reading one of the books Sirius and Remus had given him last Christmas. It was the first time all summer that he had stepped out of the house and hung around outside. He could hear Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon fighting through the open window. Aunt Petunia was sobbing about how terrible Dudley's girlfriend was, while Uncle Vernon argued that she was "bleedin' gorgeous". Harry's smile grew wider as his owl, Hedwig, swooped down into the garden and dropped an envelope at Harry's side. Harry tore open the envelope and snatched the piece of parchment containing the all too familiar handwriting.

Harry,

How've you been doing, mate? I tried to call you on the fellytone, but I couldn't get through. Hermione reckons the line was busy or something. Anyway, I know these three weeks must have been horrible for you, but I've got brilliant news! Dad asked Dumbledore if you could come stay with us now, and he said yes! So Dad's got a ministry car coming to pick you up today in the evening. Mum's already planning a wicked birthday party for you! Hermione's coming tomorrow. Can't wait to see you!

-Ron

Harry could not stop grinning as he barged into the house and ran upstairs to his bedroom. He flung all his belongings into his suitcase, before heaving it downstairs. He walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, looking very pleased. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia abruptly stopped arguing and stared at him.

"What are you so bloody happy about?" Uncle Vernon snarled.

"I'm going to Ron's house," Harry replied happily.

"When?" Aunt Petunia asked through clenched teeth.

"In a few hours," Harry said.

"Says who?" Uncle Vernon demanded.

"Why, Uncle Vernon, I had no idea you wanted me to stay. . ." Harry began sweetly.

"'Course I don't want you to stay," Uncle Vernon said gruffly. Harry smiled and stared out the window. For the first time in a long time, he was starting to feel happy again.

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"Those people are here!" Uncle Vernon hissed, taking his head out of the window, and drawing the curtains. Aunt Petunia looked pale and anxious like she always did. Dudley and Martha were out on a date, and Harry had a hunch that it was at a place that served food. Harry clutched the handle of his suitcase and stood on the front step. He smiled when he saw Mr. Weasley and Ron run out the car.

"Harry!" Ron grinned, clapping his best friend on the back. It seemed that he had grown even taller in the past three weeks, and he had definitely gotten tanner. Uncle Vernon looked appalled to see Mr. Weasley wearing his ministry robes.

"Well, ready to go, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked kindly. Harry nodded and turned to face the Dursleys.

"Bye," he said, looking at Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia nodded curtly and faced the other way. Ever since she had let that comment slip about Harry's father, she had been acting rather strange and embarrassed around Harry.

"Bye," Uncle Vernon said coldly, his eyes still fixed on Mr. Weasley in extreme dislike. Harry followed Ron to the car, telling his best friend all about Martha as they drove away.

They arrived at the Burrow several hours later, hungry and tired. Mrs. Weasley came running out of the house, wrenching Harry into a tight hug.

"How are you, dear?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm alright," Harry gasped, relieved that Mrs. Weasley had finally loosened her grip on him. He went inside the house and saw Fred and George lounging around the dining table, dressed in impressive clothes.

"Harry!" Fred shouted, standing up to greet him. George did the same.

"Hullo," Harry grinned, eyeing their silk shirts.

"We've bought Mum a new table and silverware!" George said proudly as Mrs. Weasley walked by. Mrs. Weasley smiled, her cheeks flushing. Harry looked at the staircase and saw Ginny running downstairs, her flaming red hair tied in a messy ponytail.

"Hi, Harry!" she smiled, throwing her arms around Harry's neck. Harry looked rather taken back – Ginny had never hugged him like this before. He awkwardly put his arms around her waist, trying to ignore Fred and George's loud snickers. Harry quickly released her and walked over to Ron, striking up a conversation about gnomes. It irritated him to see Ron raising his eyebrows teasingly.

"Shall we have dinner, then?" Mrs. Weasley asked loudly. Everyone rushed to take their seats around the table, piling heaps of food onto their plates eagerly.

"Some of the members of the Order wanted to see you, Harry. But, Molly thought it was best that you had a night to rest." Mr. Weasley said, clearly emphasizing that it was his wife's idea. Harry felt disappointed at first – he had been looking forward to seeing Lupin. But then he realized that it was probably better. It would just remind him of that day at the Ministry. . . someone would bring up Sirius. Harry did not want to end this relatively happy day with another night of tears and misery.

A/N: Reviewww please! Next chapter: Hermione comes. . . and the drama begins! :)


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